Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of devices, apparatuses and arrangements used in animal feeding, more particularly to the devices used as feeders for pig and other animal feeding.
Prior Art
To better understand the object and scope of the present invention, it is convenient to describe the closest state of the art that is known about the use of pig and other similar animal feeders, and thus demonstrate the novel and inventive features of this new pig feeder.
As it will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the correct feed dosing for pigs in their various developmental stages is essential to yield healthy and highly-productive animals. Generally, the lack of energy feeds in pigs reduces the rate of food conversion and slows down growth; conversely, excessive energy feeds produce too much fat. This need of providing an appropriate feeding regime is not exclusive to pigs, but is also applicable to any type of livestock, thus, the teachings drawn from what is described and disclosed herein, may be extended beyond pigs as expressly made herein.
In modern pig farming, where a controlled pig feeding program is desired, special pig feeders are used, which provide an adequate feed dosing adjustment, either of liquid and/or dry feed. In general, the type of feeder unit relevant to the present invention comprises an overhead hopper in which balanced food is placed generally in the form of micro-pellets, or other type of grain that is adequate for feeding, including, but not limited to corn and soybean.
Such hopper, where it has a generally inverted trapezoid shape, often referred to as inverted rectangular pyramid trunk, has a long rectangular discharge outlet on its bottom that is blocked to a greater or lesser extent by a generally rectangular first tray or gate that allows to increase or reduce the size of the aperture through which the feed flows towards a collection tray on the ground where the pigs feed. The tray or gate moves upwardly and downwardly supported by a set of height-adjustable supports or bars that support and guide their furthest ends in an independent manner.
For reference purposes, a clear example of this arrangement may be observed in utility model ES1040934U, wherein the adjustable supports hold both ends of a generally rectangular tray proximal to the discharge outlet of the hopper. This type of arrangement used until now must be adjusted from both ends, by tightening and loosening both screws to move up or down both ends of the tray in an independent manner.
This type of adjustment, in trapezoid-shaped hoppers, requires special skills on the part of the operator adjusting the feeder dosing, as the operator must constantly monitor the horizontality of the tray, tightening or loosening both adjusting screws sequentially, since the tray is supported independently from its furthest ends. This task requires a considerable amount of time and attention if an accurate adjustment of the feeder is desired, since the tray tends not to be completely parallel to the discharge outlet of the hopper, and thus in reality, it is very difficult to achieve a smooth descent of the tray that acts as a gate or shutter. This situation is not so difficult if the hopper is conical, as it is possible to achieve a simpler adjustment by actuating a small round-shaped discharge outlet in the center of the conical hopper, however, in the case of trapezoid-shaped hoppers, the considerable length of the lower tray or gate has required until now the use of a double adjustment on both ends of the gate, just like the feeders currently available on the market exhibit.
There is thus a need for a new type of pig feeder that makes feed dosing easy and effective by using a new mechanism of adjustment of the block level of such first tray that acts as a gate against the discharge outlet of the hopper to avoid the above-mentioned drawbacks, mainly for the difficulty and time it takes to alternatively adjust both ends of the blocking gate of the discharge outlet of the hopper.